Prof Martin Solan (of CBESS), Dr Clive Trueman and Dr Laura Grange are hosting a two day meeting at University of Southampton.
The conceptualization of ecosystem services and the link these have to human well-being has had wide influence in policy and scientific communities, but the development of theory and articulation of key concepts has been dominated by contributions from academics in the natural and economic sciences. Outside of academia, the utility of the ecosystem services framework, and associated tools for managing social-ecological systems, is subject to ongoing debate because the development of supporting theory has taken place within discipline-bound areas of academia. Consequently, the ecosystem approach is perceived by many as being less relevant to the social-ecological setting in which interventions intended to advance human well-being through improved ecosystem service delivery are implemented.
This two-day conference aims to offer a dialogue between academic ecologists, economists and end-users of ecosystem service assessments. We particularly welcome presentations reviewing successful and unsuccessful attempts to convert academic ecosystem service assessments into policy decisions.